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Letter: Save the world's coral reefs, don't resurrect them

Published 24 June 2026

From Tim Moulsley, Caterham, Surrey, UK

Your look at coral regeneration projects states that rehabilitating just 10 per cent of the 11,700 square kilometres of coral reefs degraded between 2009 and 2018 could cost up to $17 trillion. Given that, at best, this would be only a partial, short-term mitigation, it would make more sense to apply such huge resources (if available!) to directly reducing or even reversing greenhouse gas emissions, thus benefiting even more than just coral reefs. As the article highlights, this is a clear case of prevention being better than cure (13 June, p 38).

Issue no. 3601 published 27 June 2026

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